Welcome to Litsy!

A few weeks ago my dad was hospitalized after a stroke (it is weird to type those words, as though putting them here makes them real). The last weeks have been filled with hospital trips and hours spent at his bedside. Today I needed comfort reading and bought this beautiful edition of a favourite childhood read. Puppy protection has also been engaged.

#Two4tuesday
1. Lillies and Irises
2. The Secret Garden

@TheSpineView

March #bookspin pick.

I never got to February‘s pick and March is moving by pretty quickly. Unsure I‘ll get to this one but one can always hope.

1- lilacs!
2- this is the only book I could think of 😂
#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

1. Crocus in New England (first to push through the snow and give me hope that it would be warm again eventually), jasmine in San Diego (I love walking through the neighborhood and wondering why I smell tea and realizing it's the jasmine blossoms).

2. Tagged reminds me of spring, both the literally and emotionally/metaphorically.

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

#keyhole #coverstories @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#coverstories
#keyhole

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“Everything seems asleep, and yet going on all the time. It is a goodly life that you lead, friend; no doubt the best in the world, if only you are
strong enough to lead it!”

-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Here are 6 favorites with #Trees #CoverStories

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#TLT
12% this week. My top 3 are The Secret Garden, The Secret Life of Bees, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
The Secret Garden is one of my all time favorite books, and I even have a tattoo of the Key on my arm. 🔑 🌷

@dabbe

Truly #SteamyLove in this steampunk movie version, where the secret garden is a laboratory in the nearly abandoned Misselthwaite, the last of the Craven Factories. Such a fun take on a classic story. Movie on Amazon Prime. #FeelintheLove @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I technically own a paperback of this one (bought in order to get a tote bag). But when I reread it for book club with @donut_jefa, I read the free one from Project Gutenberg. It's still delightful, although the supposedly phonetic transcription of the Yorkshire dialect gets a bit of side eye. Also I don't think I read it in English before.

What an indictment of colonialism ✨❤️ gorgeous descriptions 🪴 real magic is in the garden

📸 from Longwood Gardens in PA

Such lovely childhood nostalgia as I adored this and had a beautiful copy.
I still appreciate the writing, obviously dated but such wisdom about life and nature.

I've done less reading than I might have this week as I've been doing this jigsaw, titled "The Secret Garden". Although it wasn't intentional, I've coincidentally been reading stories with a nature setting, so there's been a synergy between my reading and puzzling.
The animals were fairly easy to get done as the pieces were quite distinctive, but those little leaves and the twigs were slow going! ??????‍⬛???️??

The Secret Garden is about a sickly Indian girl named Mary following her experience with moving in with her uncle. Her parents, and servants died of a disease called cholera making her an orphan which is what caused Mary to move. Arriving at the manor Mary would play outside in the garden in her free time. Which was rumored to have a secret garden that her uncle locked away since his wife died in the garden. Mary of course was a curious child;

An interesting IG post about Frances Hodgson Burnett , a favorite childhood author & an author featured in @TheBookHippie ‘s #ChildrensClassicRead2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAL61wsopkI/?igsh=MTFodXh2Mm02czNhdQ==

https://bookhippie.com/index.php/2024/10/01/childrens-classic-read-2025/

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a book about a young sickly girl named Mary, Lennox. Her father was an officer for the English government in India along with her mother who was a party goer which both shared neglect for their child Mary. Unfortunately a deadly sickness named cholera killed her parents and a few servants which caused her to move away. She stayed for a while with an English minister and his five kids.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
This quote captures the essence of perspective and the idea that beauty can be found everywhere if we are open to it, inspiring a sense of wonder and appreciation for the world around us.

The transformation of the garden mirrored my thoughts on personal growth; nurturing relationships and environments can lead to healing and happiness.

This classic story follows Mary Lennox, a lonely girl who discovers a neglected garden and, through her nurturing, transforms both the garden and herself. The themes of healing, friendship, and the power of nature are beautifully explored in this enchanting tale. The lush descriptions and character development create a vivid world that encourages readers to appreciate the beauty and restorative power of nature.

Love it!

“Khu vườn bí mật” của nữ tác giả Victoria Frances Hodgson Burnett là tác phẩm văn học thiếu nhi kinh điển được trẻ em yêu thích trên toàn thế giới. Cuốn sách không chỉ là hành trình tìm sự sống và niềm vui trong khu vườn, mà còn là hành trình khám phá và chữa lành tâm hồn của cô bé Mary, mang đến cho người đọc những bài học sâu sắc về tình bạn, gia đình và sự kỳ diệu của thiên nhiên.
Review chi tiết:
https://dimibook.com/review-khu-vuon-bi-mat/

I got this copy of The Secret Garden from my parents when I was 5. 💙
#aboutabook #giftedtoyou

#CoverLove #LightBlue

Did you know there are free audiobooks on Spotify? I only recently learned this. You are only limited to 15 hours a month though. I just finished listening to this and it was very sweet. I needed that dose of sweet. It was not what I expected at all, but I did really enjoy it. It also had a cast for the reading which added to its charm. This author also wrote A Little Princess, which was a favorite movie of mine. (The Shirley Temple version.)

This book is an ode to love, friendship and the unsurpassed beauty found in nature that fills every one of us with hope. It is inspiring, tender and guarantees the reader is going to relive the magic when you delve into the pages of this tale and find it as enchantingly satisfying as you expected.....
Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6499505479

#StorySettings #Garden
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

We're doing the Night Market at the Toledo Botanical Gardens tonight, so I'm taking the opportunity to run around and take fun product photos. 🥰

#Studio42Books

It had been several years since my last reread of this one, and this spring it just felt right to pick it up. There is SO much to love about this delightful book, and I loved revisiting it. I will say that at one point it feels like Burnett kind of gets a little weird about “the Magic“ but overall this is still a heart book.

Pictured with some of the flats of annuals I purchased today... getting ready to get my own garden going!!!

Loved the interactive elements in this edition.

#Secret(s) 🤫🤐 #SpringSkies 🌸🌼🌺🌻🌨️☀️

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

#secret #springskies @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Look at this cool version of The Secret Garden that I got from ThriftBooks!! I have also always wanted to read this adventure series of wild cats so I got the first 3 of those also.

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

🌷 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgsen Burnett

I love the garden in this book, and the talk of bloom and growth and renewal. ❤️

#SundayFunday Hope you all have a wonderful day, and Happy Easter if you celebrate! Remember to tag me in your posts!

#litsolace mood board #naturalitsy

I‘ve read a lot of classics but to answer this question, I‘m sharing the tagged book that I read in 2023. This book was published in 1911 but the version of it that I read is from Audible. I enjoyed it.

#SundayFunday

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (published in 1885–1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).
#TheSecretGarden #FrancesHodgsonBurnett #WomensHistoryMonth #book #books #booknerd #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #YoungAdult #HistoricalFiction #MiddleGrade #Fantasy #Audiobook 🖤🖤

I ❤️ my grandfather‘s family farm. They moved to a smaller 🏡 after my great aunt Jenny died in ‘88. It was a very free range childhood & the garden was like the 1 in the tagged 📖 but with 🦚 & a pet 🦘 called 🧚. My fav smells were the mint growing around a🚰 in the garden, the 🍊 in the orchard & the smell of Aunty Jenny‘s sister, great Aunty Marjory‘s fruit toast & 🧈 when my Nan would take me to visit her. She also had a camomile lawn!

I liked the message of this book: the power of your thoughts. That's not a new thing, but it's also something that I always love to read about. I also loved gardening they did and talking about flowers etc.

It's clear that this is an old story and some phrases wouldn't be acceptable nowadays.

Both Mary & Colin had amazing character arc, I loved how different the were at the end of the book compared to characters at the beginning.

A colourful book display! I had fun browsing the different titles 📚

“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts—just mere thoughts—are as powerful as electric batteries—as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live.”

This was my only read for November, but I still think it would have won. It‘s such a beautiful story and has the power to remind me of what it felt like to be a kid. I adore the characters, especially Dicken. Would love a story about the trio all grown up.
#12Booksof2023

#12Booksof2023 ⭐️ Favorite Audiobooks ⭐️

When my littlest was young I read her an abridged version of this book. But this was the first time I have read the full text. It‘s such a beautiful book and one can tell the author was as avid gardener herself.

This little fellow was in our garden this morning feasting on figs in the fig tree.

To start reading tomorrow